best non overclocked gaming system for 1200 dollars

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raknarius

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hey all,

well after a lot of thought I am ready for some expert advice.

im looking to build a pure gaming system for 1200 with five important notes.

1. i do not want to overclock

2. i don't want to ever upgrade this system so consider it a gaming console that i can use for 5 years and then replace.

3. there are only two cases im interested in, but haven't purchased
A) for intel the mini itx cooler master 130 elite with stock cooler or artic cooling low profile
B),for amd the micro atx silverstones sugo sg09 or sg10 with any arctic cooling cooler or stock

4. i already have the below components (no operating system or software)
A). 1tb Seagate barracuda drive used in good condition
B). lite on dvd burners, (2)
C). asus 24 inch monitor 5ms 1900 x 1200 ips monitor
D) Logitech wireless optical mouse

5. i really appreciate warranty on parts so minimum warranties are
A) motherboard 3 years (no one makes longer)
B) power supply 5 years (capstone series from rosewill are 7)
C) video cards 3 years (xfx has lifetime warranty on some amd cards, 280x 7950 etc)

im really thinking ill either need 8gb memory with two empty slots for expansion or 16gb.
I really don't want a video card with 2gb of memory please make it 3 or 4

i would really like to say im thankful for the experts here, you guys are life savers, and im hoping me being very specific helps. i know theres a lot of general builds out there, so please don't link them, lastly, does it break forum policy if i offer a reward for the build i go with? just asking
 
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realchaos

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($88.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($329.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($49.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($94.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $970.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-25 01:07 EST-0500)

I fit most of your requirements:
-Unable to overclock.
-Intel mini-itx solution with the CM Elite 130.
-The products fit your minimum warranty parts.

About the build:
-The GTX 770 can max out anything at your resolution. I know you asked for 3 or 4gb of vram, but at your resolution, 2gb of vram is plenty. You do not need more than 2gb of vram at 1900x1200, all games will run smooth with 2gb.
-The i5 will provide great stock performance and it should last for a couple of years.
-2x4gb of ram is plenty for games, considering games do not use more than 4-6gb. I know you said you wanted 8gb with empty ram slots but since you specified you wanted a mini-itx solution, you cannot get that. Every mini-itx board only has 2 ram slots, and that's going to be filled with the 4gb sticks, but nonetheless 8gb of ram is plenty.
-I included a SSD for fast booting and loading times.

Even though you said you never wanted to upgrade, it would be a good idea to consider upgrading in the future (when you notice that the components are starting to get out-dated). The great thing about building your own computer is that it is very customize-able and upgrade-able. It's not like consoles where you cannot upgrade the the parts inside for better performance. With a sturdy case and a good psu, like the one provided in my build, you can simply switch out the gpu for a stronger one in the future for better performance instead of buying a whole new computer.



 
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raknarius

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first off, thank you, that's a great build, second, your the expert and I agree on your changes, you make very valid points, this is looking really good. I am in awe, but one question, what do id o with the other 230 dollars

 
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realchaos

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You do have a couple of options:
1. Get yourself a better mouse and a nice mechanical keyboard. Should provide a more pleasant experience with your computer.
2. Get a bigger SSD. You can go for a 250gb SSD for around ~$170-185 to store more programs/games on it. Honestly, I think 120gb is enough if you use it wisely, but with 250gb you can be more lenient on what you want to put on it.
3. Perhaps a nice mITX case. The Bitfenix Prodigy and Fractal Design Node 304 are very excellent mITX cases.

I'm more in favor of option 1 because you already have enough performance to deliver a pleasure image to your eyes, but you don't have an excellent keyboard and mouse to deliver a pleasant feel to your hands.
I would go with option 1 or just keep the money.
 
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raknarius

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reason I wanted to go with elite 130 its small and cheap, what I didn't tell you is I have a full sized case, coolermaster stacker st101 that's like new, I could use and just go atx, but I thought for 50 bucks I can get something really small... which may be dumb its not like I go to lan parties or move my pc around lol.
 
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realchaos

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Having a smaller case is nice, whether you're going to move it often or not. But with a small case comes some disadvantages. It's harder to upgrade in cases like those and it really limits your options. It's up to you to decide which is more important to you.
 
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raknarius

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ya its a tough call, I realize for every dollar I put into that case I could get better performance, so im open to build ideas with the cooler master stacker stc 101 and the two cases I listed above
 
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